Daddy
by Kailynn Sanchez
Summary: Kendall's dad left years ago. Now how will he react when Christmas comes, and his dad isn't there, like he always was? Christmas through the years for the Knight household.
1. Chapter 1

**i just finished watching BIG TIME CHRISTMAS, and i got inspiration for this immediately. please review!

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POV: Kendall Knight (7 yrs old)

"Mommy?" I asked.

"Yes, sweetie?" She was holding my little sister Katie, who could walk now, but was still persistent about staying in our mother's arms.

"Mommy, why isn't Daddy here? Where did he go?"

She sighed, put Katie in her high-chair, and took me to the couch. "Honey, Daddy's not coming back, okay? He's not coming home for Christmas. We're not going to see him again."

The tears were already pricking at my eyes. "Why? _Why isn't Daddy coming back_?"

"He left us, sweetie. He packed up everything and left. He didn't want us anymore. He didn't need us, so we don't need him."

I felt the water falling down my cheeks. "_WHY?" _I screamed. "_Why did he leave? Why can't he come back? It's not Christmas without Daddy!"_

"Kendall, calm down! Oh, you woke Katie up!" Mom got up and ran to my little sister's aid.

"Katie doesn't even know who Daddy was! She can live without knowing him! _I want Daddy back!"_

"Kendall! Calm down or you're not getting anything tomorrow for Christmas!"

I sniffed and ran up the stairs, slamming the door to my room so hard that the windows rattled.

Daddy wasn't coming back. I just had to face it. Daddy was gone, and he always will be.


	2. Chapter 2

**more Christmas with the Knights, now 4 years later.

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POV: Kendall (11 yrs old)

"He's not coming," Mom said when I walked up to her Christmas Eve morning. "You ask me every year. The answer's not going to change."

I looked down at the floor. All I've wanted for the last four years was for Daddy to come back. Christmas wasn't the same without him. It never would be.

"I know you want him back, Kendall. I do, too, but it's no use wishing for what will never happen."

I blinked back tears. "I just want Daddy. You can take back all the presents. Just take them all back and bring me Daddy."

"You don't mean that, sweetheart. I got you only what was on your Christmas list, and you put so much time into what you wanted. Are you sure you don't want _any_ of it?"

"Just take it back and bring me Daddy."

I looked over Mom's shoulder and saw Katie – she was five now – pulling on her snow-boots. I had promised that I would play with her in the snow today, but now I didn't feel up to it.

"Go play with Katie. It'll take your mind off of things."

"Okay." I pulled on my sneakers and my coat, helping Katie zip hers up when she was ready.

"Ready to have fun, Kendall?" she asked.

I looked up at her from tying her boots tighter. Her big brown eyes stared at me eagerly. "Yeah. I'm ready."

We went outside in the cold Minnesota winter and threw snowballs at each other and build forts and snowmen.

"Kendall!" Katie yelled. "I got the shovel up on the roof!"

I looked up and saw the red plastic snow-shovel lying on the roof. "Oh, man, if only Dad was here he could get that down."

"Dad? Who's Dad? Kendall, we don't have a dad."

I looked down at her. She was looking up at me with a confused look in her eyes.

_Kendall, we don't have a dad._

I ran inside, leaving her outside, and collapsed on the stairs.

"Kendall?" Mom came around the corner and saw me. "Oh my gosh, sweetie, what's wrong?"

"The shovel… the shovel's on the roof…"

"You're crying just because of that?"

I pushed her away and ran up the stairs, not caring that I was tracking in dirt and snow. I didn't care. "Come get me when Christmas is _over_!"

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**R&R!**


	3. Chapter 3

**sorry i haven't updated this in a while. i had to study for finals. i probably failed history... .  
but other than that, i'm home free ^.^**

**Chapter 3 - "present" day.**

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POV: Kendall Knight (Present day, right after the end of "Big Time Christmas")

I looked down at my mom.

She smiled up at me, and then realized what my look meant. "Kendall, no."

I sighed. "Just wanted to make sure so I wasn't wasting my time wishing for the impossible."

"Honey, you've wished for the impossible every year since you were seven. He's not coming back. Don't ask me again."

I sat up and pressed my face into my hands. I just had to breathe. He wasn't coming back. I had to remember that. Be strong Kendall. Be strong.

"You okay?" James asked. I felt the couch shift as he sat next to me. "You want a cookie?"

"I'm fine."

"You sure?"

I looked up at him.

He just looked at me.

"I'm not doing too good."

"What's wrong?"

"You know how my dad didn't come with us to LA?"

"Yeah. Come to think of it, I've never met your dad. Why haven't I… oh." He caught the look in my eyes and wisely decided to shut up.

"Mhmm." I face fell into my hands again. "That's why I don't always want to have Christmas. I just go along with you guys with the pajamas and everything because I don't want it to be weird. I don't even want to do anything. Ever. Christmas just isn't the same without him."

He took a bite of the cookie he had offered me a minute ago. "You know what you should do? Get your mom a boyfriend. Then you'll have a dad."

"That's not the point!" I stood up. "I want my _real_ dad back. No one else would work."


	4. Chapter 4

**here's the last addition to "Daddy." everything wraps up. Kenjo lovers... be happy. that's all i gotta say.**

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POV: Kendall Knight (35 yrs old)

I looked up at the lousy Christmas tree in my lousy apartment and lousy Nebraska. Jo and I couldn't afford to stay in LA and Minnesota was just too brutal for her. It had been years since I broke down because of my lack of a strong male influence in my life. But now I had to be one in someone else's.

Kennedy ran up to me and hugged me around my waist, the highest that she could reach. "Merry Christmas, Daddy."

I put my hand on my back of her head and stroked her think, wavy blonde hair. "Merry Christmas, sweetie."

Jo came up on my other side and hugged me from there around my shoulders. "Merry Christmas, Kendall."

"I love you." I leaned in a little closer to her and my lips brushed hers.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Kennedy yelled. "Stop kissin' and play with my new toys and me!"

I started laughing so hard that I nearly doubled over with the pain that flooded my abdomen from laughing too much. Kennedy was an angel. And she was my angel.

I sat on the floor and rested my elbows on my knees, watching my daughter scramble through the excess wrapping-paper and scattered presents on the living room floor. She was trying to find the new doll I had bought her, but I had hid it behind my back unbeknownst to her.

"Daddy, I can't find my new Barbie doll!"

I smiled and pulled the plastic monstrosity from behind my back. They nauseated me when Katie used to play with them, and now it was Kennedy's turn to make me sick. "Here it is, sweetheart."

She ran up to me, took the Barbie, and stuck a quick kiss on my cheek before running to Jo with it and back again.

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Before Jo and I settled down for the night, we relaxed on the couch together by ourselves and watched the tree light blink on and off in front of us.**_

"Are you still thinking about your dad every year?" she asked abruptly.

"Yeah. A little." I sighed and let the blinking lights mesmerize me. "I can't remember anything about him anymore. His voice, his face, his love… it's all gone."

Jo snuggled up close to me and rested her head on my shoulder. "He's gone now, Kendall. And besides, you have bigger responsibilities." She flicked her gaze to Kennedy, who was passed out on the floor beside the tree.

"I know."

"You lost your daddy, but now you're Daddy to someone else, someone more important."

I smiled at my sleeping daughter. "I know. I'm her Daddy."

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**REVIEW _PLEASEEEE_! AND MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!**


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